


almost treason

by stardustgirl



Series: AU of an AU [10]
Category: Star Wars: Rebels
Genre: AU of an AU, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Pre-Canon, Ezra Bridger Needs a Hug, Ezra’s 18, Imperial AU, Implied/Referenced Drug Use, Implied/Referenced Drug Use by Minors, Kallus as a Father Figure
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-11
Updated: 2018-10-11
Packaged: 2019-07-29 12:35:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,901
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16264325
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/stardustgirl/pseuds/stardustgirl
Summary: He fell silent and they waited with bated breath until Ezra cleared his throat.“I, um, I was getting ready to leave...I’m old enough to be out of ICS now so...can I go? Sir,” he added as an afterthought.|~~~|On Ezra’s last day legally in the Imperial Care Systems, a visitor arrives.





	1. arrival

**Author's Note:**

> Kallus attempts to be a Space Dad™ part 3.
> 
> TW: Referenced Drug Use by a Minor

Two weeks.  
Only two more weeks before he could go anywhere, anywhere that was away from _here._ Search for his parents offworld--they weren’t on Lothal anymore, or at least if they were they were hidden well. Get a ship. Go places.  
Go _away from here._  
But two weeks meant two more tests.  
But only two.  
He could do two more easily.

It was two weeks later, and he was finally leaving.  
The only thing he had left from his childhood were the remnants of his jacket. They’d demolished his old street a year or two ago when the Defender program began to take off and the IPA had decided it needed to expand past the garrison and into Capital City. Supposedly, there were similar setups across the planet, but he hadn’t been outside the city in a few years now, and definitely not when the IPA had been established, much less gotten bases on Lothal. He had been meaning to ask Kallus about it as well, but the man had gotten busier after having to deal with IPA and IIP representatives that wanted to speak to someone in the military, not a politician--as if Pryce stuck to one or the other.  
And with his own testing, it had been difficult for him to find time, too.  
He was preparing to leave for the last time when two ‘troopers walked in, standing at either side of the door. Ezra straightened, guessing it was some sort of politician or officer. The other two boys in the room stopped talking and turned, straightening as well.  
A chill ran down his spine.  
A tall figure entered the room, stooping slightly so as not to hit his head on the entrance. Ezra’s hair stood on end as he studied the man. A Pau’an, but why would the Empire spend ‘troopers for security for this? And what even _was_ this? There hadn’t been any incidents recently, not that he remembered at least.  
The Pau’an moved several steps further into the room before stopping, gazing at each of them in turn before his eyes settled on Ezra.  
Something screamed at him to _run,_ and to run _now._  
“I don’t believe we’ve met.” The man approached slowly and Ezra stiffened, forcing himself not to blink as the Pau’an smiled cruelly. “I’ve been here several times before now, but no, I don’t think we’ve met.”  
“He does most of the drug testing, more than the others.” Both Ezra and the Pau’an glanced at the doorway to see Kallus standing at attention outside. He felt a quick surge of relief. “He was most likely gone the last time you were here, Inquisitor.”  
Inquisitor? What the kriff was that?  
“Hmm. And what’s your name, boy?”  
“Ez- Ezra,” he answered, swallowing the lump that had spontaneously formed in this throat.  
“Do you have a last name?”  
“No, sir.” He shook his head to emphasize the point. If he had had one at one point, he didn’t anymore. Not that it would’ve benefited him anyway.  
The Pau’an’s gaze slid to the other boys. “You may go.” They nearly ran out and Ezra watched them in silence, swallowing again as the man returned his gaze to him. “Ezra, have you ever...experienced anything... _different?_ ”  
“What do you mean by different, sir?”  
“Things that the others haven’t been affected by or noticed. Have you ever had your attention drawn to them more?”  
He swallowed. “Not- not in that way, sir.”  
“Oh? Then in what way?”  
He hesitated, biting his tongue as his eyes flickered to Kallus. The agent’s face was unreadable, but something in his eyes almost seemed reminiscent of a warning.  
“I...I feel things, sometimes,” he began haltingly. Another quick glance revealed that the agent’s eyes had narrowed almost imperceptibly. Ezra swallowed, clearing his throat as he continued to speak. “Sometimes I get...warnings. Like...to avoid something, some _one._ I don’t really know how else to explain it, sir.”  
The Pau’an nodded, then turned to face Kallus. “Agent, how does he do in comparison to the others in regards to the drug tests?”  
Kallus seemed almost taken aback by the inquiry but he recovered quickly. “He does better than the others in terms of recovery time. Gets over it in a couple days, even if it’s the first trial.”  
The man nodded, gaze redirecting back to Ezra, though he still spoke to Kallus. “Has he ever shown signs of being more...intelligent than the others?”  
The agent hesitated before shrugging. “He- we had quite a few incidents when he was younger of him running away from his first few fosters. His first one was offworld, and in a matter of days, he’d managed to stowaway on a ship back to Lothal.”  
The Pau’an nodded slowly again. “Well.” He fell silent and they waited with bated breath until Ezra cleared his throat.  
“I, um, I was getting ready to leave...I’m old enough to be out of ICS now so...can I go? Sir,” he added as an afterthought.  
The man seemed surprised at his forwardness. “I would like you to remain here for another day or two.”  
Ezra’s eyes narrowed. “On whose orders? Not to be rude, sir, but I haven’t seen any sort of identification, and I’m not required to stay here by law anymore.”  
The Pau’an’s eyes narrowed into golden slits dangerously. “I carry the power of the Emperor with me, boy. You _will_ remain here, or you _will_ face the consequences. Am I clear?”  
He dropped his gaze to the ground. “Yes, sir.”  
“Good. I’ll return in the morning.” He shot a quick glance to each of the ‘troopers by the door. “See that he does not leave until I am done with him. You as well, Agent Kallus.”  
Kallus dipped his head as the Pau’an exited, the ‘troopers following, though Ezra noticed they stopped just outside the door. Kallus shot the trio a glance before stepping inside the room, keying the door closed as he approached Ezra at a rapid walk.  
“Who was that?”  
“The Inquisitor, and keep your voice down. I don’t know why he has an interest in you, but I don’t suspect it’s good.” Ezra swallowed as Kallus’s voice lowered in pitch and sped up. The agent placed a hand on his shoulder, for once ignoring Ezra’s slight flinch. “You need to find a way out of here. Immediately.”  
“Whoa whoa whoa, slow down. Who _is_ he, first of all? And he said he’d been here before? And why was he asking me all those questions?”  
“Keep your voice _down!_ ” Kallus hissed. “He’s the Inquisitor. They’re Jedi hunters, and they go to the Systems occasionally. I’ve heard they’re looking for someone. I’m not sure who.”  
“My parents were traitors, but they weren’t Jedi,” Ezra frowned.  
“Yes, that’s what I’m concerned about. He’s been to the Lothal IPC quite a few times in the last several years, but he’s never...I’ve never seen him take an interest in someone like that before. And just when you were about to leave, too.”  
“How’d I miss him?”  
“Like I said. You were out testing most of those times, and during one of them you were with a foster. As for why he asked you those questions, I’m...honestly not sure.”  
“How am I supposed to get out if there’s ‘troopers out there? And he’s a _Jedi hunter?!_ ” Ezra’s voice cracked as panic rose in his throat.  
“I’m not sure. Find a way out, just lay low for a while. Once he realizes you’re missing, I’m not sure what he’ll do. We might...I have an idea.” Ezra raised an eyebrow; Kallus’s gaze had suddenly become conflicted. “You were testing the other times. I don’t want to ask you to do this, but...if you were testing again….That could delay him and give us time to plan.”  
Ezra swallowed and nodded. “I- I’ll do it. If it’ll give us time.”  
Kallus nodded, something distantly familiar in his eyes that disappeared as his face hardened. “Alright. I’ll arrange it for tonight, does that work? He said he’s coming in the morning, so we can’t set it for then. And...to delay him properly...it needs to be a first trial.”  
Ezra swallowed again. “Of- of course. I...I can handle it.”  
The man nodded, turning to leave before stopping in front of the door, though he didn’t look back, instead just turning his head partway. “Ezra...I’m sorry.”


	2. survival

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW: Mentions of Blood, Needles, Past Child Abuse, Drug Use by a Minor, Slight Torture

He stumbled out of the building, darkness enveloping him almost immediately even as spots danced behind his vision.  The fact that he didn’t trip and onto his face immediately was a miracle. He blinked, glancing around uncertainly for the ‘trooper before a footstep sounded from a few feet away.  He whirled, slightly off-balance and confused as to why the sound was louder than normal.

A hand gripped his shoulder without warning and he turned, staggering backwards down raising his fists in what he knew was a sloppy defensive stance.  He didn’t bother trying to fix it.

“Kid, easy.”  Another hand gripped his arm and he stumbled back, confused when the grip only tightened, even as he tried to shake it loose.

“Let- let go,” he muttered, voice faintly slurred.  Everything was still dark.

“Ezra, _easy,_ ” the same voice as before repeated, the grip on his arm tightening further.  He swallowed harshly. “Kid, calm down. We’re getting you back.”

“He’s completely out of it, just knock him out already,” someone muttered in exasperation from nearby.

Something went into his neck, and he slipped further into darkness.

 

“Ezra?”

He groaned, starting to sit up until a hand pushed back firmly on his shoulder.  He flinched away, blinking his eyes open to see a fuzzy, doubled version of Kallus, brows knitted together in concern.

“Ezra, are you okay?”

Ezra shook his head, blinking again, but the headache persisted.  Something in his gut twisted, and before he knew what was happening he was leaning to the side and dry-heaving.

Kallus waited until he was done before helping him sit up again.  He continued to tremble faintly as he glanced up at the agent, brows furrowing.  “What’s...what _was_ that?”

“They’re calling it VD-1101 for now.  You’ve been out for the past fifteen hours.  Now sit up, you have a visitor.” Kallus’s manner was more brusque than normal, and Ezra tensed slightly as he sat up, wincing.

The door across the med bay opened and Kallus’s expression immediately went blank.  Ezra turned to face the door slightly, eyes widening fractionally before he schooled his expression just as quickly as the Inquisitor entered.

The man’s gaze snapped to Kallus.  “Out,” he ordered, and the agent obeyed without hesitation.

As the door slid shut, his gaze fixed itself on Ezra as he approached slowly.  The youth was reminded of a Loth-cat stalking its prey, and it took all his restraint not to flinch away.

“The results of your blood tests came back,” the man began conversationally.  The sudden change in tone put him on edge. “They were...not promising.”

“I...I didn’t have any blood tests.  Sir.”

“Yes, you did; while you were out, the med droid had to take your vitals for testing.  I asked if it would include a blood test, which it did.”

A blood test.

A blood test.

Something nagged at the back of his mind at that, but another pain, this time in his chest, forced him to double over and hiss in pain.  The Inquisitor watched on with a neutral expression.

“Now, the thing I don’t understand is this: why are you so resilient when it comes to the drugs?  That pathetic excuse for an agent claims you’re the most resilient one they have, that you recover within a few days.  But your blood results don’t match with that.”

He continued to speak, but his voice started to fade in Ezra’s ears as the world around him spun.

Something the Inquisitor said caught his attention and he forced himself to stay awake.

“Do you know what midichlorians are, Ezra?”

“Midi- _what?_ ” he asked in confusion.

“Midichlorians.  They are what gave the Jedi their power, and those who have high numbers of them now are highly...sought after.”

The words blurred in Ezra’s mind and he shook his head, only aggravating his headache.  “What...what about them, sir?”

The Inquisitor studied him for a long moment before making a non-committal sound.  “Nothing, boy. Except….” His eyes narrowed and he extended a hand, closing his eyes.

Nothing happened.

Until Ezra’s headache suddenly increased by tenfold and he cried out, eyes squeezing shut as the waves of agony hit him repeatedly.  Somehow, his earliest memories were being dredged up: the blurred faces of people that he vaguely remembered as parents, running along the street back home as he laughed, opening the door to see stormtroopers, Kallus promising he would find his parents as long as he was brave, the first beating he received at the hands of his second foster, stumbling back to the Complex in the dark and rain as he searched for anyone, _anyone_ to help him, his first encounter with one of the local gangs, endless studying for an entrance exam he didn’t care about, purposely failing it and seeing the deep disappointment on Kallus’s face, the confusion and pain and terror the drug from the first trial had put him in, but testing was _so much_ better than the alternative and he had known that when he had volunteered, the first fight he won against the other boys in his room, watching as they were each sent away, a scant few adopted as he remained, his cynicism and outright animosity the only things protecting him because a long time ago he’d realized Kallus could only do so much, hearing the news about Jedha and then Alderaan and Yavin IV and so many other planets, the implementation of the IIP, and watching the first tanks arrive on Lothal, the trials over the years as they slowly got easier and he built up a tolerance, all the lucky times when he had been fighting one of the gangs and had managed to run before they could take the rest of their drunken rage out on him, the first vibroblade he’d stolen as a defense against everything and everyone, the—

He gasped as the onslaught stopped as suddenly as it had begun.  Shaking, he carefully looked up at the Inquisitor. The man’s expression was unreadable, though it seemed vaguely reminiscent of confusion.  He shook his head and glanced down at Ezra in thought before abruptly leaving.

Kallus entered moments later and Ezra gradually released the breath he was holding as the agent approached him with several quick strides.

Before he knew what was going on, the man was pressing a small vial into his hand and whispering urgently into his ear.

“Good, you did good.  Amazingly. But that won’t be enough.  It won’t ever be enough.

“There’ll be a ship at the spaceport in two hours, and it’ll leave two more after.  A _Stathas_ -class freighter.  Alright? Take that.  Tell them Fulcrum sent you.  They’ll understand.

“You can’t come back here.  They’ll take you somewhere, somewhere you can get another ride.  Get as far away from the Empire as you can. Don’t try and find me.  Don’t try and find your parents. You need to hide.”

“W- wh—“

“ _Ezra, trust me._ ”

He studied Kallus’s face, the urgency plain, and then glanced down at the vial in his hand.  The agent closed his hand over it. The man leaned in again, his voice more urgent and lower than before if possible.

“Take that if they get close to finding you again.  But it’ll be a lot worse than it was this time, so only if you need to.  Don’t question it. Your current dosage should be good another six hours; you need to be offworld by then.  Am I clear?”

Ezra nodded slowly and Kallus made to leave.  Sitting up further, Ezra coughed. “Wait. Why?”

Kallus glanced back.  “Because I care.”

He left.

 

Ezra was stumbling toward the spaceport two and a half hours later, entering and glancing around as he searched for the ship.

There.

He found it and stumbled toward it, moving to walk up the loading ramp when a blaster was suddenly face to face with him.  He took a step back.

“Who are you?” a low feminine voice growled.

“Fulcrum sent me,” he said softly.

Instantly the blaster lowered and he was able to study the owner.  She wore what looked like modified civvies of an officer, and he watched as her eyes narrowed before she jerked her head back toward the ship.

“Let’s go then.  The Jai’galaar doesn’t wait all day.”

He followed her up the ramp, noting her frequent backward glances as she closed the ramp and led him to the cockpit.  She sat in the pilot’s seat, gesturing for him to sit in the copilot’s, which he did so with reluctance.

“Alright.  What’s your name?”

“Ezra.”

She seemed to think about that for a minute before nodding decisively.  “Alright, Ezra. Let’s get going.” She turned her attention to the console and he swallowed, clearing her throat.

“Wait, I didn’t get yours.”

She glanced back, hesitating before answering.  “Sabine. Now be quiet, because I want to get out of here as much as you.”

Sabine started the engines.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this is a lot different than I was originally planning, but you know how writing goes xD


End file.
